Members Appointed To Outdoor Dining Task Force In Manhattan Beach

MANHATTAN BEACH, CA — Eight members of the Manhattan Beach community will take on the task of studying outdoor dining options in the city after they were appointed at last week's City Council meeting.

The Outdoor Dining Task Force, made up of a total of 15 members, will gather information to make recommendations to the City Council for a long-term outdoor dining and business use program. In January, officials announced that temporary outdoor dining in Manhattan Beach would come to an end following the end of California's COVID-19 State of Emergency, which ended on Feb. 28.

“Manhattan Beach is a small beach town and of course we all love enjoying the outdoors. We are home to some of the best restaurants and businesses in Southern California, and as a city we want to continue enjoying the beautiful outdoor space while still keeping our small town family feel,” said Mayor Richard Montgomery. “This task force will help us see what our community needs are and organically grow a program that is unique to us. I look forward to seeing their recommendations.”

Inspiration for the new task force sparked because city officials said the temporary program resulted in many challenges such as an impact on the residential quality of life, increased congestion and traffic, additional sanitation and deferred street repairs and storm drain keep up.

With the end of the temporary program, the City Council ordered 26 restaurants in Manhattan Beach that participated in the program to remove their dining decks by March 10. After the removal of the decks, 57 public parking spaces opened up.

Going forward, the new task force will work on solutions for a permanent outdoor dining program that balances the interests of stakeholders and complies with state and local laws. Members of the community are welcome to participate in upcoming meetings that the task force will hold to further research the issue.

The full list of all 15 task force members as well as additional information about the program can be found on the city's website. To give input about outdoor dining to the task force by email, community members can contact outdoordining@manhattanbeach.gov.